Senior softballer finishing up HS career strong
Posted on 04/10/2019
Jessica Hobbs at batting practice(SPS) - “I just like playing the game and I’ve played it all my life since I was young and I just want to go out with a bang my senior year.”

Going out with a bang is exactly what Sapulpa Lady Chieftains slow-pitch softball player Jessica Hobbs is doing. She’s having the type of season most of us dare to dream about.

“I just focus on getting the base hit and scoring my runners. I just try to place the ball where they’re not and it just goes over the fence sometimes,” Jessica said.

Sometimes? In her first 21 at-bats, she crushed 10 home runs and drove in 23 base runners. Her slugging percentage was 2.571 with an on-base percentage of .875.

“Jessica’s the real deal in terms of her talent,” said head coach Rosemary Hill. “She could be an All-American, you know. It’s just that she’s got the tools and the skills for it, so it’s been no surprise that she’s done so well.”

Jessica is a four-year starter and the lone senior on the team, so she understands the responsibility she has to her teammates.

“I know I have to lead them and I have to be a great leader to them and show them what they need to fulfill during the four years that they have.”

Her leadership and her efforts on the diamond are paying off. Jessica was recently named to the Oklahoma Native All-State Association Softball Team.

“That was very important. It was shocking whenever I found out. I was actually, we were in between games and I went up to see my grandma up in the stands and she’s like, ‘Did you hear?’ and I was like, ‘Hear what?’ and she told me that I was on the list for the Native All-State team and we looked and I was the only 6A Native American girl on there.

“It was pretty overwhelming,” she said.

“She’s real, real proud of her native heritage and that couldn’t have happened to a better kid, so I’m real excited for her for that,” said coach Hill. “I think she knows this is her last hurrah in high school. This is it for her, and for her to go out on a great note for her to feel very confident and comfortable in her skin, I think that’s good for her to go out and have those accomplishments.”

Her accomplishments aside, Jessica knows there is more to this squad than just the wins and losses and that it will be hard to replicate the bond she’s built with her teammates.

“What makes us so special is we always work as a team and we play as a team. We hang out as a team. We’re like sisters.

“It’s a great year and I’m ready for what comes after this but it’s kinda sad that it's ending but because the softball family that I’ve had, has been such a great community and they’ve always been there for me.”

As for what comes next, Jessica plans on attending college in the fall to pursue a degree in nursing.